1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a washing machine, and more particularly, to a drum type washing machine. Although the present invention is suitable for a wide scope of applications, it is particularly suitable for facilitating laundry to be loaded and unloaded from the washing machine with a maximum capacity within a predetermined volume.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, a drum type washing machine according to a related art has the following configuration.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional diagram of a drum type washing machine according to the related art, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional diagram according to a cutting line II-II shown in FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a drum type washing machine according to the related art consists of a cabinet 1 having a base 1a and a door 1b, a tub 2 provided within the cabinet 1 to be fixed thereto, a drum 3 rotatably provided within the tub 2 to rotate laundry m and water by a lift 3a, a motor 4 rotating the drum 3, and a spring 5, damper 6, and balancer 7 attenuating vibration transferred to the tub 2.
The drum 3 is provided with a multitude of holes 3b to enable water stored in the tub 2 to be introduced into the drum 3. The lift 3a is provided on an inner surface of the drum 3. The lift 3a is rotated together with the drum 3 to lift the laundry m loaded within the drum 3 together with the water.
The tub 2 is provided lobe spaced apart from inner lateral sides of the cabinet 1. Both sides of an upper end of the tub 2 are hung within the cabinet 1 via springs 5. The damper 6 is hinged between the tub 2 and the base 1a to be supported over the base 1a. And, the springs 5 and dampers 6 attenuate the vibration carried to the cabinet 1 from the tub 2.
The door 1b of the cabinet 1 is rotatably provided to a front side 1d of the cabinet 1 to enable the laundry m to be loaded. Front sides 2d and 3d of the tub 2 and the drum 3 are provided with openings 2c and 3c to communicate with a hole (not shown in the drawings) opened by the door 1b, respectively.
A gasket 8 is provided between the front side 1d of the cabinet 1 having the door 1b assembled thereto and the front side 2d of the tub 2 to prevent leakage of the water. In particular, the gasket 8 seals the space between the inner lateral side of the cabinet 1 and the front side 2d of the tub 2.
And, the motor 4 is provided to a backside of the tub 2 to rotate the drum 3 provided within the tub 2.
However, the related art drum type washing machine has the following problems or disadvantages.
First of all, if vibration is generated from an inside of the drum 3 of the related art drum type washing machine due to the imbalance in washing or dewatering, both of the drum 3 and the tub 2 are shaken as one body. And, the springs and dampers 5 and 6 are configured to attenuate the vibration.
Since the tub 2 vibrates, the outer circumference of the tub 2 and the cabinet 1 should be sufficiently spaced apart from each other with a gap (‘a’ in FIG. 1 or ‘b’ in FIG. 2) to prevent the cabinet 1 and the tub 2 from colliding with each other. This restricts the capacity or volume of the tub 2 within the cabinet 1 having a fixed size.
Secondly, since the door 1b for loading and unloading the laundry and the openings 2c and 3c of the tub and drum are provided to face the front side of the washing machine, a user has to bend or sit down to load the laundry in the washing machine. This causes inconvenience to the user in using the washing machine.